


Stay a little longer

by implicit_despair



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anxiety, F/M, Past Suicide Attempts (implied), Self-Harm (implied), Semi-Graphic Blood, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-16 17:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13058703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/implicit_despair/pseuds/implicit_despair
Summary: When Shuichi’s dragged along to a fancy dinner at his parent’s friend's house, he never thought he’d be leaving with someone more than just a friend.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> it’s day two of my roadtrip and i’m bored of just listening to music so here’s an idea i’ve had in my head for a while!

Shuichi sat in his room, with a light murder mystery novel in his hand he was ready for a relaxing Friday night. School hadn’t been too stressful, just a few papers he had to finish by next week. He decided it was most efficient to distribute the work throughout the weekend, providing him with a free Friday night. Kaito had invited him over but Shuichi politely declined, knowing that Maki, his off and on girlfriend, would most likely be there. She and Kaito had been dating since their first year at the academy, and Kaito was Shuichi’s only friend since, forever (you could say the three were close).

The book had just started getting to its highest point; the girl protagonist, Kath, had presented all her evidence right in front of the police. They sat in a dark room, the girl is described to be wearing a long light pink trench coat—quite the colour for a detective—and a satin white slip dress underneath. _No wonder the movie adaption appeals to young men_ , he thought. Shuichi continued to read:

_The evidence had been all laid out in front of the policemen, who were studying each detail with such care. Kath slouched in her seat, impatiently waiting for one of them to start talking. The smug look on her face was concealed by the dim lighting in the room they were in; almost as if they had been interrogating her. Her long coat had formed a neat little circles around her feet from her adjusting it multiple times to get it just perfect. One of the younger police men looked up from the files and looked Kath in her eyes; they bled red._

_She grinned, “Well boys, did you figure it out?” They all shook their heads except for the younger man, he walked around the table till he was in front of her._

_“It was-“_

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Shuichi, startled by the sudden knocking on his bedroom door, flinched and dropped his book on the floor causing him to lose the page he was on. Shuichi groaned, picked up his book and stood up to get the door. Stood outside, was his mom dressed in an elegant white dress, a jump from the normal everyday sweatpants she usually wore. Shuichi’s mind wandered to the possible explanations for this. He refined his list to three likely answers: one, it was date night (which his parents haven’t had in the longest time, and it was the most obvious option); two, some stupid dinner thing with their rich friends; or three, she got drunk on the leftover wine from when her friends came over last night. He raised a brow, an impromptu cue for his mom to start explaining—she got the hint.

“Shuichi, your father and I were invited to a casual dinner with an old friend of his.” Shuichi looked around the corner of the doorframe and saw his dad, looking somewhat acceptable in a blue tinted blazer and matching tie. His shirt underneath was a plain white button down, similar to what Shuichi wore to school. He gulped and looked back at his mom, who stood with an half-assed apologetic look on her face.

“So…?”

“We want you to come along.” Shuichi stood frozen, stunned. His parents were aware of his, ‘state of being’, and never gave many shits about whether he went out or not. He smiled out of guilt, laughed, and placed a hand on the door knob.

“I’d rather stay home,” he said in a jokingly tone, trying to make the conversation seem less awkward. His grip tightened on the door knob, unlucky for him as his mom noticed this, and placed her own hand on the door knob on her side.

— —

After a few minutes, Shuichi was out the door in his signature detective uniform (minus the hat which his mom hid somewhere). He slipped into his family’s black car, and started to drive off. The convincing went a bit like:

_“I didn’t give birth to you for nothing!”_

_“It’s a dinner mom.”_

_“You’re coming Shuichi Saihara.”_

Shuichi sat in the back as his dad drove and his mom in the front seat. He stared out the window, trying his best to balance the angle of his head for optimal view without exposing his face too much to oncoming passers. Without his hat Shuichi felt naked, like he was pushed out of the house with just his boxers (too visual? that’s how bad it is). He hadn’t been outside of the house without his hat which at this point has become a second skin to him, and second skins aren’t supposed to be forced off, they come off naturally.

After a while and a few cars later, Shuichi’s attention had focused to his wrists where he felt the indents of past cuts. He had been trying to stop cutting as he was being too paranoid that his parents would find out, but he soon realized there were parts of him that his parents don’t see on a daily basis such as his thigh and stomach; so he started there. At school, there was the occasional drawing lines on his arms with a pen, but he almost always rubbed them off right afterwards before Kaito could notice.

He doesn’t remember when it started, or if he was ever pushed into doing it. He just remembers the waterfalls of blood that made it feel like the pain was coming with it. It made Shuichi feel _good_ , and that’s all he ever wanted.

The car suddenly came into a complete halt, causing Shuichi to lurch forward despite his seatbelt. His mother looked back at him.

“You okay? This is why you wear your seatbelt.”

“I was—“

“We’re here!” his dad interrupted, unlocking the doors and climbing out. Shuichi, being the last to get out, took a deep breath and opened his car door to reveal a spectacular view. A large house wouldn’t barely describe it, it was both modern but elegant, homely but gala-like. Shuichi wondered what kind of friends his mom had growing up.

A short woman in a black dress, similar style to his mom’s, came out the front door with welcoming eyes. She came over to Shuichi’s parents and gave each of them a hug, then she turned to Shuichi and held her hand out.

“I believe you are the son? Nice to meet you.”

Shuichi took her hand, she had a firm grip, and shook it. “Ah—Shuichi Saihara.”

“Shuichi huh? You may address me as Mrs. Akamatsu.”

Shuichi smiled, and followed his parents as Mrs. Akamatsu led them in the house. It was going to be a long evening.


	2. Chapter 2

__

Shuichi stepped inside the house, it was just as, if not more, extravagant than it had been on the outside. Shuichi felt underdressed in just a black uniform. He looked around, family photos of the family were hung on every wall. Most of them focused on an blonde girl, around Shuichi’s age, playing a spotless piano Shuichi felt was cleaner than he was. The blonde hair seemed to ring a bell, but yet Shuichi couldn’t come to a complete conclusion. On one corner of the room lay a white grand piano, clearly a bit worn from usage. Shuichi walked inside a bit more but kept his eyes on the piano. He felt a shock as someone tapped his left shoulder, he turned around. The same girl from the photos. Kaede.

 _Shit_.

“Shuichi? I didn’t expect you to be here.” She was wearing a strapless knee length light pink dress. It hugged her body in just the right places—well, just the right places for Shuichi to be staring.

“Oh, Kaede. Is this your, um, house?” The boy smiled, trying to act somewhat cool. Kaede smiled and nodded.

“It’s a bit much, but I’m grateful.”

Shuichi rubbed at the back of his neck, “It’s definitely better than mine.”

Kaede shook her head and laughed a bit. Shuichi could feel his cheeks getting redder. “You should be grateful for your house too, Shuichi.”

This comment took Shuichi by surprise, they hadn’t really talked at school, and the only time they spent time together was when Maki brought her along. He realized he didn’t know much of how to act around her alone. “Ah-of course. Sorry.”

Kaede laughed again. “Shuichi you silly boy, there’s nothing to be sorry for!” She flashed a smile one last time at him and walked away to greet his parents.

_Nothing to be sorry for, huh._

— —

They sat around the dining table made for about twelve, although it was only Kaede and her parents around for most of the year. They had hired a cook, apparently he was a graduate from Hope’s Peak Academy, to serve them a full three course meal. They had chatted around the appetisers and the adults got tipsy on the wine. Shuichi sank down in his seat as Kaede laughed at baby stories told by his drunk mom.

“And then he came up to me and just-“

“The main course is here!” Interrupted the chef, who more or less looked like someone you’d want to keep your children away from. Shuichi’s mom turned to him and grinned when she would’ve probably killed him right then and there if she was sober. Apparently drunk people weren’t bothered by interruptions.

The chef placed a dish in front of each of them and collected their appetiser plates. As soon as the chef left, everyone started to dig into their meals, except for Shuichi.

It wasn’t like the dish looked bad, heck, Shuichi would devour it if it wasn’t for that certain feeling. That feeling you can’t describe but yet it’s the most prominent thing in your head. As if god hadn’t made any adjectives as horrific enough to describe it.

To make it seem like he didn’t feel like crap, Shuichi picked up his fork and started poking around his food, occasionally chewing air. He looked over to Kaede who was cheerfully enjoying her meal, and taking any chance to talk to Shuichi’s parents. Shuichi set down his fork and cleared his throat, his dad was the first to notice.

“Hey, Shuichi? You doing okay buddy?” This caused everyone to turn their heads at him. He shook his head, not knowing what to do with the attention.

“Oh, um. Do you have a bathroom nearby?” And just like that, Kaede stood up, dusted off her dress and smiled at Shuichi.

“Follow me.”

— —

Kaede led Shuichi down multiple narrow corridors, Shuichi losing track of where they were at this point. The hallways were just plain white, barely decorated unlike the rest of the house. The pair stayed silent throughout the walk till they reached a white door at the end of one of the hallways. Kaede stopped and turned around to face Shuichi.

“Wait a moment,” she said as she walked into the bathroom. She hadn’t closed the door fully, but it was still enough for Shuichi not to get a good angle on what she was doing from where he was standing. From the outside, Shuichi could hear the opening and closing of multiple drawers and cabinets. She must be hiding something, he deduced. But what could it be? He may not know he that well, but he knew enough to know it couldn’t be birth control. And what else does a girl  
have to hide?

After a while, Kaede came out clutching a box. She opened the door wide for Shuichi and started to head back.

“Kaede, wait.”

She stopped, and turned around. “Yea?”

He gestured to her hand. “What did you get?” She squinted at him, he shook his head quickly. “Oh-ah, I mean not to b-be nosy or, um, anything.”

Kaede giggled, and slowly took a few steps forward. She raised her hand and revealed the box she had been holding. The label read ‘razors’. Shuichi was stunned, this couldn’t have been a coincidence, and she couldn’t have found out either. Unless-

“If you think Kaito told Maki who told me, it’s not that.” Shuichi swallowed and nodded, expecting her to elaborate further.

“Oh, Shuichi,” she grabbed his right hand with her free one which took him by shock, “Don’t think I never notice.”

With his left hand, Shuichi instinctively rubbed at the back of his neck. “What is there to notice? I mean, I’m just-“

But she cut him off before he could finished and rolled up his right sleeve to reveal the past marks of cuts. She looked down at them and gently rubbed a finger over them. Shuichi bit his bottom lip.

 _Sheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknownssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknowssheknownssheknows_.

She laughed, Shuichi looked at her, confused. “Why are you laughing?” She looked at his eyes, which wasn’t really a problem seeing as they were around the same height, and pinched his chin with her left hand.

She didn’t say anything, and he didn’t mind just staring into her purple eyes. He must’ve gotten lost in them because the next thing he felt were a brush of something warm on his lips. It was her.

As she pulled away she could feel herself smile, wider than she usually did. He opened his eyes, not realising they closed automatically. She was the first to speak.

“Please, stay. If it’s not for me, for Kaito, for your parents.” He placed a hand on her cheek and this time he leaned in and indulged in a long, passionate but not strong, kiss. At that moment, he didn’t care about who the killer was in his novel.

“I’ll stay.”

She nodded in response and rolled back down his sleeve. Kaede punched him playfully on the shoulder, he flinched backwards. “Now go whatever do whatever you needed to do before our parents think we’re doing something else.” She winked.

“Ah! Of course,” he replied as he walked into the bathroom.

This was their romance, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmmm i wonder who the chef is


End file.
